BTW, all the rumors I have seen have Diggs trending to tOSU. Frankly, I still believe that Neal ends up at tOSU despite what Mike Farrel at Rivals is reporting. He is the only one I have found that is saying that tOSU isn't interested in Neal anymore.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

The whole thing, from the constant stating of 81 by Meyer at his press conference to the Farrel rumor, to everyone thinking Diggs is going to OSU (when the kid doesn't really talk to any reporters), it's just blah at this point.

Not gonna rack my brain, but at this point I'd put a good chunk of money down at least one of them is a Buckeye (especially after Meyer ripping the WR speed on the team to shit on the radio) which is all I really care about.

I have no idea what to expect, but today I feel much more confident about Diggs than I did a couple days ago. Couple of days ago I would have said 20% to tOSU, now I am feeling 50:50 about it.

I love listening to some of the fans talk about tOSU's receivers like they are not that bad. It is the second worst position group on the team outside of LB. Some guys are like, "WR's will be alot better when Verlon Reed gets back." I can't help but say, "EXACTLY," and that is the problem. Reed is a nice possession receiver but when he is a key offensive weapon, tOSU is in trouble.

Right now, the only WR I really like on the team is Devin Smith. I am still not thrilled about the WRs even with our current commits. Frank E will be a surprise I think but we still don't have a bad ass.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

Boy I hope he redshirts and gets a fifth year for the school! Really gets that education.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

furls wrote:I have no idea what to expect, but today I feel much more confident about Diggs than I did a couple days ago. Couple of days ago I would have said 20% to tOSU, now I am feeling 50:50 about it.

I love listening to some of the fans talk about tOSU's receivers like they are not that bad. It is the second worst position group on the team outside of LB. Some guys are like, "WR's will be alot better when Verlon Reed gets back." I can't help but say, "EXACTLY," and that is the problem. Reed is a nice possession receiver but when he is a key offensive weapon, tOSU is in trouble.

Right now, the only WR I really like on the team is Devin Smith. I am still not thrilled about the WRs even with our current commits. Frank E will be a surprise I think but we still don't have a bad ass.

I agree. Smith is a stud IMO, and Spencer might be a Robiskie type which is useful as the #3 guy, not so much at #1 or #2.

Wide Receiver has been in a MAJOR rut at OSU since Gonzo and Teddy left. Nearly every receiver that started for the buckeyes has been drafted in the last decade plus, next to CB its the buckeyes calling card for pro prospects.

This group and the group since 07 has been significantly below what we've come to expect.

e0y2e3 wrote:The best part about that interview JB is him citing strength against OSU recuiting in his coaching staff during the same off-season 75% of them ran as fast and far away from him as they could.

Guess those three guys that stayed on staff really did a dandy job!

Exactly what that video reminds me of (that state championship highlights at the end are insane). Teddy with more shake/accel and less sixth gear in the open field.

Not sure if this is the right place, but did anyone see that Wisconsin's coach wasn't all that thrilled about OSU's tactics? Read it in the paper this AM.

Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema unveiled a 12-player recruiting class Wednesday and was asked whether he had noticed any changes in recruiting in a Big Ten Conference with new coach Urban Meyer now in charge at Ohio State.

Turns out, the answer is yes.

"There's a few things that happened early on I made people be aware of that I didn't want to see in this league that I had seen take place at other leagues," Bielema said. "Other recruiting tactics, other recruiting practices that are illegal. I was very up front and was very poignant to the fact. I actually reached out to Coach Meyer and shared my thoughts and concerns with him and the situation got rectified."

Bielema didn't disclose any details, though he had more to say about his conversation with Meyer.

He said Meyer asked him: "You know what the difference between the Big Ten and our conference is? I said, 'No', and he said, 'In the Big Ten, everybody tells on everybody. In our conference nobody tells on anybody.'

"And that made a huge comment to me," Bielema said. "I've been very cognizant of that. I encouraged our coaches to play by the books, to do things a certain way."

WiscTribeFan wrote:Not sure if this is the right place, but did anyone see that Wisconsin's coach wasn't all that thrilled about OSU's tactics? Read it in the paper this AM.

Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema unveiled a 12-player recruiting class Wednesday and was asked whether he had noticed any changes in recruiting in a Big Ten Conference with new coach Urban Meyer now in charge at Ohio State.

Turns out, the answer is yes.

"There's a few things that happened early on I made people be aware of that I didn't want to see in this league that I had seen take place at other leagues," Bielema said. "Other recruiting tactics, other recruiting practices that are illegal. I was very up front and was very poignant to the fact. I actually reached out to Coach Meyer and shared my thoughts and concerns with him and the situation got rectified."

Bielema didn't disclose any details, though he had more to say about his conversation with Meyer.

He said Meyer asked him: "You know what the difference between the Big Ten and our conference is? I said, 'No', and he said, 'In the Big Ten, everybody tells on everybody. In our conference nobody tells on anybody.'

"And that made a huge comment to me," Bielema said. "I've been very cognizant of that. I encouraged our coaches to play by the books, to do things a certain way."

The article in the actual newspaper I have delivered up here stated it was Meyer. I live in WI, however...

The second quote makes it sound as if these are two different conversations, however. Why would Meyer say "our conference" when he's in the Big Ten?

Wisconsin's coach can't be comfortable with an even larger recruiting presence at OSU making his job more difficult. You can bet that they'll be looking to drop a dime on anything that even sniffs of impropriety on OSU's part.

WiscTribeFan wrote:The article in the actual newspaper I have delivered up here stated it was Meyer. I live in WI, however...

The second quote makes it sound as if these are two different conversations, however. Why would Meyer say "our conference" when he's in the Big Ten?

Wisconsin's coach can't be comfortable with an even larger recruiting presence at OSU making his job more difficult. You can bet that they'll be looking to drop a dime on anything that even sniffs of impropriety on OSU's part.

There is the conversation that Brett says he had with Urban recently.

And

The quoted material is from a conversation Brett had while interviewing for another position, on another team, in another conference. Could it have been him interviewing at UF with Urban? Yes.

But the Chicago link does not list the name of the coach that he was interviewing with (and I think points out they do not know who it was). The Wisconsin paper puts Urban out there as the interviewer.

Here is what I'm reading on Neal, can't speak to the accuracy. Pulling this right off a message board:

I dont know if he's pulling it from buckeye planet but thats my guess.

According to a pretty respectable poster on a different site (not scout)-

From a little "birdie" (no, not TOS)

OSU really was set to take Neal until the in home visit. Something went awry in the in home that turned off OSU to the Neals (don't know of it was the Dad or the son). Afterwards the kid tried to commit and the OSU said no thanks. Now both parties are no longer interested.

This IS what happened and Mike Farrell was 100% right.

Not giving up the source in this, but it's real.

Bill K is saying Neal will not be Buckeye. He's as conservative as it gets so.....hopefully Diggs is coming, but if not, he was a very long shot , and we legitimately need additional spots for next season anyways.

BN boarding house seems to add a tiny bit of validity to this, at least indicating that one of their many "sources" had something similar to say.

Neal's dad is a douche, but I really do get the feeling that Urban just decided Diggs was better and he's gonna go all in or roll it over when Neal didn't commit during Urban's visit.

When Urban visited Neal Reeves, Dodson and Marcus were still up in the air. Once all three were grabbed the numbers became crazy tight, especially when we don't even know what three other people are off the team right now.

Either way, meh, get Diggs and call it a day. Will be the biggest playmaker recruit since Teddy, easily.

WTF are they going to do when he starts winning? Christ this is going to get UGLY. It's going to be 10x worse than the Tressell era in terms of the nation hating OSU and now Tress' coach buddies (hey, you don't recruit my guy and I won't come at yours buddy!!) are going to hate OSU too.

That "Gentleman's Agreement" only hurt tOSU. The Buckeyes would have been orders of magnitude more likely to sway recruits than the other fucksticks carrying clipboards in the B1G. Meyer ended the charity that Tressel was providing, perfectly within his rights.

As long as he is above board I could care less and those guys can cry me a fucking river. I am willing to bet that Brett Beluga is probably referring to some minor recruiting infraction, like calling players after dark on a school night or something. I am sure he and Alvarez probably think that Meyer did something wrong otherwise they wouldn't be snitching.

These guys are in big MFing trouble as other "Gentlemenly" traditions of tOSU's past are going away too... like the whole take a knee as soon as you have a 2 score lead. I hope Meyer hangs 60 on Wisco every year.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

I am calling it now, tOSU goes 12-0 next year. Favorable schedule, energetic new coach and more talent than anyone they will play all year.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

"...with the help of a back judge" line is funny. I don't care who ya are.

As has been alluded to plenty here and on twitter: revenue sharing is over in the B1G

That's loud and clear. And Urban and Hoke have re-established the proper order in the conference too. Bielema and Dantonio got a taste of the good living (though it goes too often unsaid just how unready and incapable of enjoying it Bielema was- I think he bitches so people forget his multiple choke jobs this past season) and now their relevance has been revoked.

My issue, and I've stated this to Dan on Twitter while I completely understand his PoV as well, is that Buckeye fans would be apoplectic if Meyer had gone to UM or Penn State and re-directed a couple OSU verbals that way. The SEC chants would have rang out in Columbus as they are ringing out in Madison and East Lansing. Tressel (God rest his soul) would have said something polite and grandfatherly like, "There's that way and there's the right way and we'll continue to recruit the right way..." or some such crap.

Instead Buckeye fans and sites and bloggers are tweeting and crowing with glee because the SEC and the most aggressive recruiter in the game landed in Columbus and changed the B1G forever.

I find it to be funny too. I find it to be awesome. But I find the reaction of fans/bloggers/etc in Columbus to be equally amusing as if they'd be whining any less if this sequence of events had cost them verbals as opposed to gained them signees.

It is nice to occasionally have more than 140 characters to make a point, right, Peeks?

When I said earlier that I didn't think this would be an ongoing issue, I meant that this year is a one-off for OSU (and maybe 3-off or 4-off years for Penn State). Never before, and probably never again have we/will we see verbals being poached like this within the conference.

In any other year, the schools are not even recruiting the same kids. Not as much with UM, but MSU and Wisky are down here in Ohio trying to scrape up the kids who didn't get Ohio State offers...like it's always been. I'm trying to remember the last time this happened anywhere in the Big Ten. Help me out Furls, Coz....I'm talking about kids switching after having given a verbal...

I guess I'm saying I attribute it not so much to Meyer being a recruiting beast (although he clearly is). I attribute it to the unique set of circumstances surrounding OSU and PSU this year. Dodson and Pittman (and Kalis) and no doubt a few others (Strobel, McMullen, ?) don't even whiff the interest of a school other than OSU without the JT scandals. This "flipping" of verbals happened because Meyer had to jam a year and a half of effort into 2 months. As he said in the presser, Decker and Pittman didn't need to be "pilfered" by OSU after Meyer was hired. They were both calling OSU immediately...having their coaches call...to let Meyer know they wanted to be Buckeyes. There was no arm-twisting or pressure tactics required. They had always wanted to be Buckeyes, and now the circumstances were going to allow it to happen.

As for the Penn State kids, all four of them (with the possible exception of Schutt?) had formally decommitted, or at least announced their intentions to open up their recruitment before OSU got involved with them. Again, completely unique and one-of-a-kind set of circumstances

"I believe it is the nature of the human species to reject what is true but unpleasant and to embrace what is obviously false but comforting." H.L. Mencken

peeker643 wrote:"...with the help of a back judge" line is funny. I don't care who ya are.

As has been alluded to plenty here and on twitter: revenue sharing is over in the B1G

That's loud and clear. And Urban and Hoke have re-established the proper order in the conference too. Bielema and Dantonio got a taste of the good living (though it goes too often unsaid just how unready and incapable of enjoying it Bielema was- I think he bitches so people forget his multiple choke jobs this past season) and now their relevance has been revoked.

My issue, and I've stated this to Dan on Twitter while I completely understand his PoV as well, is that Buckeye fans would be apoplectic if Meyer had gone to UM or Penn State and re-directed a couple OSU verbals that way. The SEC chants would have rang out in Columbus as they are ringing out in Madison and East Lansing. Tressel (God rest his soul) would have said something polite and grandfatherly like, "There's that way and there's the right way and we'll continue to recruit the right way..." or some such crap.

Instead Buckeye fans and sites and bloggers are tweeting and crowing with glee because the SEC and the most aggressive recruiter in the game landed in Columbus and changed the B1G forever.

I find it to be funny too. I find it to be awesome. But I find the reaction of fans/bloggers/etc in Columbus to be equally amusing as if they'd be whining any less if this sequence of events had cost them verbals as opposed to gained them signees.

I agree to a point, except the particular recruits that Meyer "stole" were either Ohio Kids that never would have considered outside schools if not for tress stepping in that steaming pile last spring, or Pennsylvania refugees running from that mess over in Happy Valley.....

So its isnt like there is a great apples to apples comp there....The kids that Meyer took from Kelley, Bielema and Dantonio were all kids they got by talking trash on OSU to begin with.

That said, I maintained from the start I always felt Meyer's recruiting to be at least a little bit slimy and having him on my side doesn't change that. It just makes me the benefactor of said dirt. I'm in no way even pretending that isnt the case.

danwismar wrote:It is nice to occasionally have more than 140 characters to make a point, right, Peeks?

When I said earlier that I didn't think this would be an ongoing issue, I meant that this year is a one-off for OSU (and maybe 3-off or 4-off years for Penn State). Never before, and probably never again have we/will we see verbals being poached like this within the conference.

In any other year, the schools are not even recruiting the same kids. Not as much with UM, but MSU and Wisky are down here in Ohio trying to scrape up the kids who didn't get Ohio State offers...like it's always been. I'm trying to remember the last time this happened anywhere in the Big Ten. Help me out Furls, Coz....I'm talking about kids switching after having given a verbal...

I guess I'm saying I attribute it not so much to Meyer being a recruiting beast (although he clearly is). I attribute it to the unique set of circumstances surrounding OSU and PSU this year. Dodson and Pittman (and Kalis) and no doubt a few others (Strobel, McMullen, ?) don't even whiff the interest of a school other than OSU without the JT scandals. This "flipping" of verbals happened because Meyer had to jam a year and a half of effort into 2 months. As he said in the presser, Decker and Pittman didn't need to be "pilfered" by OSU after Meyer was hired. They were both calling OSU immediately...having their coaches call...to let Meyer know they wanted to be Buckeyes. There was no arm-twisting or pressure tactics required. They had always wanted to be Buckeyes, and now the circumstances were going to allow it to happen.

As for the Penn State kids, all four of them (with the possible exception of Schutt?) had formally decommitted, or at least announced their intentions to open up their recruitment before OSU got involved with them. Again, completely unique and one-of-a-kind set of circumstances

Agreed Dan, I was posting as you were posting this....It doesnt happen, and Wisky and MSU simply do not compete with OSU for Ohio Recruits. I sincerely doubt that Urban will be flipping wisky and sparty recruits, maybe ever again. He's too out in front of things for that to be the case on the regular.

And this was the perfect storm. Honestly I dont expect OSU to be going head to head much with any of these whiners in the future. PSU and UM and thats it in the entire Midwest.

Last edited by JCoz on Fri Feb 03, 2012 10:26 am, edited 1 time in total.

100% agree on the perfect storm. Clearly benefited the Buckeyes and clearly benefited a terrific recruiter by all accounts.

And I agreed with Dan on Twitter (and yes, it's nice when you're as verbose as I am to have more than 140 ) that I don't have an issue with flipping verbals. There are no classes or deals til the faxes pour in.

My reaction was more geared toward the reaction. The 11warriors and @Elika 's and all of Buckeye nation just hammering Bielema (who deserves all the shit he gets). The point being, if Meyer had signed on at Penn State or UM and had flipped some OSU verbals in a conference where that hasn't gone down too often before, those folks would have been whining worse than Bielema. War would be declared.

I just truly believe that. But yes, I'm with jcoz. Fuck 'em all. Meyer wins and that's the guy I'm rooting for. Therefore we win. Just don't want anyone to think most of us wouldn't have been apeshit crazy had OSU been on the Wisconsin/MSU side of things.

So much for Meyer having changed the rules...or violated the "gentleman's agreement" of the Big Ten coaching fraternity. Much of what Gerd writes at the link was known to me, although I was not aware that Dantonio had Dodson in for an official visit after his verbal to Wisconsin. Good stuff....

Bielema, the guy that dealt with his issues man to man with Urban, is now asking his AD to go to Delaney about Urban and fat fuck Barry is.

I believe Spencer Hall described it best,

"Bret Bielema is sickened by the use of these "machine guns." Gentelmen speak with the musket first, and the saber last!"

Also, D'Antonio was crying to the press about Pittman today aplenty as well, a mere week after his DC was crying to the press.

YOU SCARED B1G COACHES, YOU SCARED

Not like either of these kids are blue chips from Ohio and probably would have never even looked at Wisky and Sparty if not for the uncertainty and TatGate since the Bucks have a century old history of getting, like, 99% of these type of recruits.